Valve mechanism for soot blowers



March 25, 1952 s. E. MEYERS 2,590,441

VALVE MECHANISM FOR SOOT BLOWERS Filed Aug. 4. 1948 a Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

EIDNEY E. MEYER5 ATTORN EY March 25, 1952 s. E. MEYERS 2,590,441

VALVE MECHANISM FOR SOOT BLOWERS Filed Aug, 4, 1948 s Sheeis-Sheet 2 .EIDNEY E. MEYEREI ATTORN EY.

INVENTOR.

March 25, 1952 s. E. MEYERS VALVE MECHANISM FOR SOOT BLOWERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 4, 1948 ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 25, 1952 UNIT ED STATE-S FAT ENT FFE.

VALVEMECHANI-SM FOR. SOOT BLOWERS.

Sidney E. Meyers, New York, N; Y., assig'nor, by

mesne assignments; to Continental Foundry & Machineflompany, East Chicago, Ind, a corpcration of: Delaware ApplicationAugustt 4, 1948, Serial No. 42,529

:Claims;.

The. present invention relates to valve mechaforsogot blowers, especially soot blowers of the type wherein steam is admitted through a, valveto an elongated tubular blowing element having-radiatorotherwise suitably arranged nozzl'e's, the blowing'element beingrotated during the operation of the" blower, so that the jets of steam ejected throughthenozzlessweep the tube bank of the boiler to which the" blower is attached. In the sootblower in which the present valvemechanism is incorporated" the tubular blowing element is'rotated' through gearing from a manually operable shaft, and it isproposed, according to the. invention, to provide automatic means actuated through the rotationof the shaft toopen andlclose the: steam supply-valve in timedrelation'to the rotation of the tubular'blower element.

It. is." an object: of the invention to provide a soot blower in whichall of the valve mechanism ison the. side of the valve: opposite tothe boiler" gases, thus, whenv the valve is, closed, the packing; sliding" joints,- and" all of the important parts? of theimechanism are sealed on from the boiler gases. In. other" designs heretofore known the arrangementof the valve mechanism is such that the boiler gases; as Wellas the condensate fromthe steam can collect. around thevalve mechanism, tending, to deterioration of such mechanism as well as interference with its normal operation.

Another object is to provide a valve'mechanism in. which. the working partsare effectually Drotected' against. the entrance of dirt; soot, or the like, particularly during'the off'periods when the blower is not in operation.

A further object is toprovide a valve mechanism consisting in part of a screw-operated travelling nut carrying cam means for effectingv the opening and closing ofithe valve, and further to provide suchc'am means in adjustable relation to thenut and whereby'th'e phase of the nut upon thescrew. can be accurately adjusted with respect to the position of'the cam means.

A; further object is to provide a valve mechanism. including means for accurately adjusting. the valve. travel andwhereby a. throttling actioncan be brought about. so as to. reduce the pres.- sure onthedownstreamside of the valve. to whatever degree desired.

Withthe above. and. other objects inview, an embodi'm'entofi the invention is shown in the ac companying drawings, and this. embodiment.- will 'bethereinaitergmore fully describedywithreference thereto, and: the invention. will befinally. pointed outi-n thaclaims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 isa sideelevation of a soot blower valve head, provided with valve mechanism according to the illustrated. exemplary embodiment of the invention, the dot-and-dash lines showing one operative position of the travelling nut with the valve closed.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view thereof, the-dot-and-dash lines showing the open position of the valve;

Fig. 3 is' a rear elevation, partiallyin vertical section along the line- 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view, taken along theline 55 ofFig; 2.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the-several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the soot blower valve head comprises a valvebody It] in the form of a casting and consisting of a steam chamber ll,

provided with a base flange i2 to whichthe steamsupply line is bolted, and connected at its upper end to a head'portion' I3 having a horizontal passage in communication with the chamber- 1, this passage including a valve chamber- M, a valve seat l5, a nozzle portion ll, anda bearing portion 18 in which the end of the'rotatable'tubular blower element is engaged, as will presently'more fully appear. Upon-the forwardend of'the head portion i3 there is provided a flange [9' upon which there is supported,v by means. of bolts 20 and sleeves 21, a bearing plate 22, provided with.

a circular pocket 23. in which is engaged the outer. element of an anti-friction bearing unit. 24, itsinner element being mounted upon the tubular end member of. the: blower element. The tubular member 25 has one end portionrotatably engaged within the bearing passage [8 of the head portion I3, where it is surrounded by suitable packing 26 retained and. compressed by a flanged gland collar 21, adjustably connected to the flange iii of the body It. by bolts 28.. A large gear 29 is secured by welding, as. at. 3.0,. to the tubular member 25, this gear having secured to. it, by means of bolts 3!, aflanged hub 32 mounted upon the end of the tubular member 25 and having screwed in it the end of the elongated tubular blower member 33, they latter extending, into the boiler and being providedwith nozzleoutlets (not shown) for directing steam to the tube bank or other structure. of. the. boiler. to: be cleaned; of

' soot or the: like.

ward end of the operating shaft 35, its rearward end being journaled in a bearing sleeve 36 provided in an upwardly extending bracket arm 3'! integrally formed upon the body It. A pinion gear 38 is secured upon the forward end of the shaft 35 and meshes with the large ear 29, the shaft being provided upon its rearward end with a sheave wheel 39 over which an operating chain 40 is engaged. Manual rotation of the sheave wheel through pulling the chain All! in one or the other directions is adapted through the pinion gear 38 to rotate the gear 29 and the tubular blowing element connected thereto. A guard 4| secured upon the bearing plate 22 encloses and protects the gears.

The valve chamber M of the valve body it is closed at its outer end by a cover plate 42 secured to the body by bolts 43 and sealed by means of a sealing gasket 44 engaged in an annular recess 45 of the body and pressed against the base of the recess by an annular rib ,5 on the closure plate. A cylindrical pocket portion 4'! formed upon the inner side of the cover plate 42 extends into the chamber l4, and has seated in its inner end a collar 43 forming a stop for the series of packing rings 49 within the pocket. The packing rings are retained and compressed by a gland collar 50 slideably engaged in the outer end of the pocket 41 and held in place by means of a header engaged upon bolts 52 secured to the closure plate 42 and adapted to be tightened to compress the packing rings by nuts 53 engaged upon the bolts. The packing rings provide a cylindrical passage 54 in which the valve stem 55 is slidably engaged. The stem is provided at its inner end with a flange 58, about which there is engaged a valve closure head 5? secured upon the stem by a screw plug 58. The valve head seats upon the valve seat I5 through the action of a helical coil spring 59 interposed between the valve head and the closure plate 42 in surrounding relation to the pocket portion 41. There is a slight clearance space between the periphery of the valve head and the wall of the valve chamber It which allows steam to pass behind the valve head in the closed position of the valve so as to act with the spring to maintain valve closed. The valve stem 55 projects rearwardly from the gland collar 56 where it is provided upon its screw-threaded outer end with an adjustable nut 65 engaged by the forked end 6| of..the downwardly extending arm 62 of a control lever, indicated generally as This control lever is provided at its upper portion with a pair of forwardly extending side arms 6464, and is pivotally mounted upon a bracket extension 65 of the closure plate 12 by means of a shaft 65, mounted in the bracket and extending from each side thereof where it is journaled in bearing sleeves 5'l61 set in each of the side arms of the lever. A grease fitting 68 is secured in the end of the shaft, and is connected by a duct 69 to the two bearing sleeves 6TBl. Upon the forward ends of the side arms 64 of the lever there are respectively mounted upon studs IO-J0 a pair of cam engaging rollers 'H-'H for engaging the operating cams provided upon the shaft 35, as will presently more fully appear.

The shaft 35 is of enlarged diameter at its intermediate portion and provided with stop shoulders 12 and 13 against which there are engaged anti-friction thrust bearing units it and E5. the unit 14 being also engaged against the bearing bracket 31 and the unit 15 being also engaged against the bearing plate 22. Substantially centrally of the enlarged intermediate portion of the shaft there is provided a helical screw thread 15 engaged by a substantially cylindrical travelling nut H.

Clamped about this nut is a two-piece cam member comprising a lower portion 78 and an upper portion 19, through which extends a cylindrical bore 88 engaged by the outer cylindrical surface of the nut, the two parts of the cam being clampingly secured about the nut by means of screws 81. The nut is provided with an annular rib 82 engaging an annular groove 83 in the bore 85, and which restrains relative longitudinal movement between the nut and the cam membenwhile permitting the nut to be rotated within the cam member when the screws 8| are loosened sufliciently to permit such movement. This is for the purpose of accurately adjusting the phase of the nut, so that it properly engages the screw in any given position of the cam member.

Upon the lower side of the cam member there are provided adjacent the longitudinal edges thereof cam surfaces B484 respectively engaged by the cam rollers 1lll of the lever 63, the roller being pressed into engagement with the cam surface through the action of the valve closing spring 59. Each of the cam surfaces includes an intermediate downwardly projecting portion having a flat surface of predetermined length connected by inclined rise surfaces to upwardly offset straight surfaces at each end, these end surfaces being engaged by the rollers in the closed position of the valve. Longitudinal movement is imparted to the cam member through rotation of the shaft 35 and longitudinal movement imparted to the nut thereby, the rollers moving into engagement with the projected surface, as shown by the dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 2, to open the valve.

In operation the starting position of the nut may be the full line position, or the dot-and-dash line position, as shown in Fig. 1, the cam 84 being such that the valve is closed in either of these positions, the thrust bearings 14 and 15 constituting limit stops for the nut in either of these positions. The valve is operated by rotating the shaft in one or the other directions through pulling the chain 40, the tubular blower element being rotated during each cycle of operation through a predetermined sweep, as for instance 360. As the nut travels upon the shaft, the cam 84 causes the lever to move in clockwise direction to open the valve and admit steam to the blower element, the period during which the valve is open being determined by the length of the cam rise.

It will be observed that the incline at the right-hand end of the cam rise is at a slightly steeper angle than the incline at the left-hand end, this being for the purpose of compensating for the difference in resistance when engaging the rollers when the cam is moved to the left or right. In any position of the travelling nut the screw 16 is entirely enclosed, so that it is effectually protected against dust, soot, or the like. The spring 59 normally maintains the valve closed, being assisted in this action by admission of steam behind the valve head, but it is possible to control the degree of opening by adjustment of the nut 60, so that a throttling action can be brought about if desired. In order to insure proper engagement of the nut H with the screw 16 in the limit positions of the nut, the two-part cam may be loosened by loosening the screws 8| to enable the nut to be turned relatively to the cam. When the phase of the nut is properly -adjusted the screws are tightened so that the cam is made rigid with the nut.

I have illustrated and described a preferred and satisfactory embodiment of the invention, but it will be understood that changes may be made therein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a soot blower including a valve body having a valve opening for admitting cleaning fluid to a movable blowing element, a movable blowing element in communication with said valve opening, a rotatable shaft, and drive means between said shaft and said movable blowing element for moving the latter, a movable valve for opening and closing said valve opening, a lever associated with said valve for imparting movement thereto, a screw carried by said shaft, a traveling nut engaged with said screw adapted to have rectilinear movement through rotation of said shaft,

cam means carried by said nut cooperating with said movable lever for imparting movement thereto, said nut being rotatable relatively to said cam means, and securing mean for fixing said nut against rotation relatively to said cam means.

2. In a soot blower with a rotatable blower nozzle, shaft, and means connecting the shaft to turn the blower nozzle when the shaft rotates, a valve body with a passageway connected to said nozzle for directing soot-blowing fluid under pressure to said nozzle, a valve in said passageway, means biasing said valve shut to close said passageway, a lever with one end connected to said valve to open said valve when the lever pivots in one direction, a cam member with a cam surface engaging said lever to pivot it in said one direction, means on the shaft connected to move said cam member through rotation of the shaft, said cam surface being shaped to pivot the lever to move the valve from a closed to an open position during initial rotation of the shaft and to hold the lever with the valve open during continued rotation of the shaft while the blower nozzle completes its turning cycle. 7

3. In a soot blower with a rotatable blower nozzle, shaft, and means connecting the shaft to turn the blower nozzle when the shaft rotates, a valve body with a passageway co-axial with and connected to said nozzle for directing soot-blowing fluid under pressure to said nozzle, a valve movably mounted in said passageway for axial movement, means biasingsaid valve shut to close said passageway, a lever with one end connected to said valve to open said valve when the lever ivot in one direction, a cam member with a cam surface engaging said lever to pivot it in said one direction, means on the shaft connected to move said cam member through rotation of the shaft, said cam surface being shaped to pivot the lever to move the valve from a closed to an open position during initial rotation of the shaft and to hold the lever with the valve open during continued rotation of the shaft while the blower nozzle completes its turning cycle.

4. In a soot blower with a rotatable blower nozzle, a rotatable shaft, means connecting the shaft to turn the blower nozzle when the shaft rotates, a valve body with a passageway coaxial with and connected at one end to said nozzle for directing soot-blowing fluid under pressure to said nozzle, and a valve chamber co-axial with and connected to the other end of said passageway, a valve seat at said other end of said passageway, a valve movably mounted in said valve chamber for axial movement, means biasing said valve shut against said valve seat to close said passageway, movable means connected to said valve to open said valve when said movable means moves in one direction and cam means operatively connected to the shaft to move said movable means through rotation of the shaft, said cam means being shaped to move said movable means to move the valve from a closed to an open position during initial rotation of the shaft and to hold said movable means with the valve open during continued rotation of the shaft while the blower nozzle completes its turning cycle.

5. In a soot blower with a rotatable blower nozzle, a rotatable shaft, means connecting the shaft to turn the blower nozzle when the shaft rotates, a valve body with a passageway co-axial with and connected at one end to said nozzle for directing soot-blowing fluid under pressure to said nozzle, and a valve chamber co-axial with and connected to the other end of said passageway, a valve seat at said other end of said passageway, a valve movably mounted in said valve chamber for axial movement, means biasing said valve shut against said valve seat to close said passageway, a lever with one end connected to said valve to open said valve when the lever pivots in one direction, acam member with a cam surface engaging said lever to pivot it in said one direction, means on the shaft connected to move said cam member through rotation of the shaft, said cam being shaped to pivot the lever to move the valve from a closed to an open position during initial rotation of the shaft and to hold the lever with the valve open during continued rotation of the shaft while the blower nozzle completes its turning cycle.

SIDNEY E. MEYERS.

REFERENCEE; CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,231,378 Kelly June 26, 1917 1,924,550 Hibner Aug. 29, 1933 2,067,625 Bayer Jan. 12, 1937 2,076,737 Linaker Apr. 13, 1937 2,269,802 Wilson Jan. 13, 1942 2,298,995 Wilson Oct. 13, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 637,930 France Feb. 13, 1928 

